Incendio
by Arcane Extinction
Summary: Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it’s just him. DMHP. Horrid summary, but the story is much better! XD
1. A coming of what?

**Summary: **Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it's just him.

**Rating:** Rated M, because I don't think I could ever make this have a lower rating xD

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine, well, except for Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Those two hotties are mine, and so is the plot. HP characters belong to JK Rowling, and her publishers, or something like that.

**Pairings:**Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasly, Gabriel Pyrennth/Aaron Grimmel, and a surprise pairing that will make you go WTF. :3

**A/N:** This story picks up where HBP left off. So, yes, everyone who died in the previous books are in fact dead.

Beware. If you don't like really weird… odd.. strange… slashy stories, stop reading. Like. Now. Or just keep reading – it's up to you.

**Incendio – Chapter 1**

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Harry awoke to a throbbing headache, one that had seemingly woken him up. Unfortunately, it was not a normal sort of headache, and certainly not one that would disappear with the aid of any typical over the counter drugs. This headache had a magical quality to it; one that made the air hum, and set his teeth on edge. He clenched his teeth, slowly exiting his room and descending down the stairs in his aunt and uncles house to found what he would later refer to as a 'peculiar predicament.'

Oh, wait, no that was what _Hermione_ would call it. Ron called it a 'damn freaky meeting,' and Harry didn't call it anything. He simply stood at the foot of the stairs and stared. It probably wasn't the best course of action, because should there have been a threat, he would have been dead in a few seconds flat.

Harry shut his mouth quickly, realizing he'd been staring at what had to be the oddest situation he'd ever seen. Sitting at the table in Dudley's 'seat' was a white haired boy eating a sandwich.

"Oh, hallo," the person greeted him. "You live here?"

Harry nodded, wondering why he wasn't pointing his wand at this boy, or rather, why he hadn't said anything yet. Harry frowned, and crossed his arms, deciding now was as perfect a time as any to question this person. "Who are you? Why are you here? And… what the bloody hell do you want?" And most importantly, why had his headache left?

"Oh, uh. Err. I'm Gabriel! Gabriel Pyrennth. And I'm just raiding your fridge. Don't tell anyone," he said, looking around rather nervously. "Hey, am I in England?"

"Err, yes? You are? And would you mind, uh, getting the bloody hell out of my house before I call the cops on you? Or before I turn you into something that resembles a cross between a frog and a cat?"

The stranger blinked. "What?" He asked suddenly. "And why are you pointing a twig at me? You know, just for, uh, future reference."

Harry ogled – how could this boy have broken into his house without knowing who he was? He was famous, damnit, and it seemed as though everyone out there knew him. Excluding this guy, who still had yet to answer his question. "Never mind," he muttered, deciding it would be easier just to wipe the boy's memory clean then explain it to him. Muggles really didn't need to know. "Obliviate," he muttered, pointing his wand at 'Gabriel.'

Harry froze when he realized his spell had not worked. Or rather, no magic had worked. Gabriel looked up at him, a frown on his face. "Did you just try to erase my memory?"

Harry stared, wondering how this boy could know he had erased his memory but not know what a wizard (or witch for that matter) was.

"Uh, no," Harry lied quickly. The stranger raised a pierced eyebrow, but said nothing. "Anyways, think you could leave? Before my aunt and uncle wake up, perhaps? It'd benefit both of us if that didn't happen." 

"But I'm not done my sandwich!" The stranger protested meekly, waving what looked like a combination of everything that could be found in a fridge squished between some whole wheat bread.

"Out. Now," Harry stated, almost wishing the Imperius weren't forbidden – perhaps he could make this annoyance go away.

"Fine," the stranger said, and walked out of the house, looking quite put out.

Harry blinked, and then broke out into a grin. How absurd. His grin didn't last long when he realized that the stranger had left a bit of a mess. He shoved everything back in the fridge, knowing Uncle Vernon would have it in for him tomorrow when he discovered some food was missing. Harry sighed, and went back to his room, but not before deciding to write Hermione a letter, while the events were still fresh in his mind. 

He picked up a quill, twirling the said item for a few moments before putting it to parchment and writing.

_It's the middle of the night, and I was recently visited by someone named Gabriel Pyrennth, who strangely enough was sitting at our kitchen table… eating. _

_Is this some new scheme Voldemort's cooked up? Send a weirdo with a few too many piercings and white hair (of course, he's trying to be inconspicuous) to kidnap me or something. _

_And do you know how the ward on the Dursley's house works? I woke up to a splitting headache, and there was the 'intruder.' _

_Any theories you have are appreciated because I don't have any idea what's going on. And we don't have any tomatoes, mustard, or honey left, so I'm anticipating a rather hungry Dudley come morning, which is certainly a bad thing for all of us. _

_Harry. _

Fine, so it wasn't the best written letter, but it got the message across. He was a little worried and was wondering why some kid who must have been around eighteen or nineteen would suddenly show up at his house.

A sigh escaped his lips not for the first time this night, and he tied the letter onto his owl's leg, giving her a quick pet after receiving a nip for having been woken at such an odd time. "Sorry," he muttered, "give this to Hermione, okay?" The snowy owl hooted in response, fluttering to the window, and as Harry opened it. She flew into the night, leaving Harry to stare at the night sky, his hair being slightly tousled by the breeze.

He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he might be able to address that letter to Sirius, or Dumbledore. Even if he probably wouldn't bother Dumbledore about something like that, he would have at least known the headmaster would have been there to turn to. The memories of the past year – Dumbledore's death, the funeral, still weighed heavily on his mind.

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Harry awoke to the screech of aunt Petunia. Even if his aunt was in the kitchen, if she tried hard enough, her voice would carry throughout the whole house. She had been practicing shouting for as long as Harry could remember, so it wasn't too hard.

Harry jumped out of bed, rushing downstairs after he'd pulled on some clean clothes, knowing exactly what would be the matter.

"Gone!" She announced, in a high pitched voice that made her sound like a vulture. "And you!" She rounded on Harry, advancing far quicker then he would have thought possible for someone like her. "You! It's all your fault! You stole it, you pathetic excuse for a child!" Harry gritted his teeth, knowing there was little he could do, even if he believed she was overreacting. "Near five hundred pounds – gone! You scum, give it back," she cried, grabbing Harry by the collar.

"What? I didn't-"

"Shut up!" Vernon said with a hard smack to Harry's head that sent him reeling. "You stole five hundred bloody pounds. Now where is it?"

"But I didn't steal anything! There was a robber! He was here! I saw him," Harry sputtered, trying to make sense of it all. It didn't look like they'd notice the food missing. Of course, with the account of stolen money, they'd hardly care. "I'll pay you back! A thousand pounds!"

"We could not care if you paid us back or not, lying, thieving scumbag." Petunia spat each word, the malice in her voice growing as she progressed. Dudley was grinning, not bothering to hide it. Harry struggled out of his Aunt and Uncle's hold. "To your room and don't bother coming out."

"But – what'll Dumbledore say when he finds out? And Sirius?" He glowered darkly, knowing it wouldn't matter if he were ordered to stay in his room, as it wasn't like he'd be leaving it anytime soon. He needed to put up a fight because he _didn't_ steal anything! And why would he? He had a small fortune waiting for him. But the Dursley's didn't need to know that (and it probably wouldn't help his situation much if he told them and if they even believed him).

"You think we don't _know_? They're dead, and it looks like Petunia was correct when she said you're a lying, thieving scumbag. Because you are!" Vernon looked positively thunderous, though describing the situation as 'positive' was certainly no way Harry would see it as.

Harry bit back a scathing remark, one that not only included a whole slew of accusations to be directed at the Dursley's, but quite a few choice words that sailors were accredited to using. He clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm and not accio his wand, and justly use it on these so called relatives of his. As he was attempting to calm himself, he heard Dudley snicker, and Harry turned around to see his cousin refraining from bursting out laughing completely. "Oh, so now you're going to be crying in your sleep for them? Like Cedric – _No, please don't die Cedric! Cedric!_" He faked a moan, and clutched at his heart before righting himself and sneering. Harry glared at his cousin, but snapped when he heard his uncle attempting to repress a chuckle at Dudley's words. With a primitive roar, Harry launched himself at Dudley, one arm held before him in defense, the other behind him, ready to swing.

He whipped his fist from behind him, missing Dudley as he jumped aside with far more agility then he thought a lump of goo might ever possess. Harry cursed, and lunged at Dudley once more, this time striking the boy square in the jaw. Dudley staggered back, and Harry managed to speak, anger and hate lacing every word like some sort of poison. "Don't talk about them like that, _Dudley_," he muttered, taking a step forward.

"Oh, so now you're defending a murderer and old… guy… and your boyfriend?" Dudley laughed, but it was ceased with a shout from Uncle Vernon. Harry would have snickered at his cousin's small vocabulary if he had not been interrupted.

"YOU! BOY! Out! I don't want to see you until tomorrow!" He declared triumphantly, as if this idea had just occurred, and he had found it quite good. "If you come here before noon tomorrow, there will be hell to pay. And if you don't come back at all… well, you will be." Vernon sneered, wagging a sausage-like finger before Harry's eyes. Harry gritted his teeth, raising his head high.

"Fine," he spat, and turned around, leaving the house, and began towards the park. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, in a failed attempt to prevent himself from shaking. He felt like a bundle of nerves now, and it didn't help that he'd been kicked out before he'd even eaten breakfast. He growled inwardly, kicking himself for thinking something so stupid. He'd been kicked out, and he would have to wait it out for an entire day.

He could always flag down the night bus, but he didn't have his wand. Or he could find Mrs. Figg… Harry quickened his pace, but stopped abruptly when he saw that the lights in the squib's house were not on and there seemed to be no activity. He warily approached the house, and knocked on the door, waiting. He must have stood there for a minute, lost in thought before he realized it was hopeless. She wouldn't be answering the door anytime soon because she wasn't home. That was… oddly inconvenient.

Harry frowned, and continued towards the park, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans once more. He felt slightly better now that he'd been walking for a few minutes, but he was still seething. How could someone say something like that? He didn't even bother thinking of an answer to it, because there wasn't one. This was Dudley, and that was all there was to it.

But that didn't help matters. He was still angry, and it didn't help that it had been only days since Dumbledore's death, and what felt like such a short time since Sirius had died…

Harry was jolted out of his thoughts quite abruptly with the sound of a loud snore. He blinked, recollecting his bearings, and looking around slowly. He'd arrived at the park, but he'd been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't really noticed. Another snore could be heard echoing across the grounds, and Harry looked around, searching for the source of the noise.

And lo and behold, there he was. The white haired, sandwich eating, thief of sorts named Gabriel Pyrennth. Harry grinned maliciously, striding over to the boy who looked about nineteen or twenty, and whacked him on the head fiercely. Gabriel emitted another loud snore, and let his arm flop, so it was dangling off the side of the bench. It was quite odd in fact, for Gabriel was lying on the bench, feet propped up against the backboard, with one arm draped across his stomach, and another dangling listlessly in the air.

Harry huffed angrily, and whacked the stranger in the stomach, causing Gabriel to sit up, with a small 'ow.' When Gabriel saw Harry, he broke out into a grin, sitting up slowly, and leaning against the backboard of the bench, rather then using it as a footrest. "Hey, Harry!" He said, the grin remaining unfaltering. He blinked when he noticed Harry's expression, cocking his head to one side, peering at the raven haired boy through pale wisps of hair. "Somethin' wrong there? You don' look so great," he stated bluntly.

"Much thanks to you, that is," Harry retorted, receiving a blank stare from this Gabriel character. "My aunt and uncle said _I_ stole some food! And then they noticed some money was missing, so they blamed me for that too!" Pyrennth watched Harry, causing the boy to squirm a bit under his gaze.

"Well," Gabriel began quietly, "just be glad they didn't notice that expensive watch of theirs went missing. Guess they won't be blaming you for that, now, eh?"

Harry simply stared incredulously at Gabriel. "No, because of you, I'm stuck out here for the rest of the day, night, and following morning," he retorted sourly.

"Hey, me too! Wanna be hobo buddies?" Gabriel asked with a grin. He turned around abruptly, spotting someone making their way towards them. "Aaron!" he shouted, jumping off the bench, and running towards the said person, and practically throwing himself at the other boy, and planting a kiss on his cheek. Harry couldn't make out the conversation between the two, but by now he'd deduced this Gabriel fellow wasn't straight. And that neither was this Aaron fellow.

Harry crossed his arms, pouting, wondering why he was stuck with a crazed… person, and why the idea of homosexuality didn't bother him as much as it should have.

Gabriel approached Harry, plonking himself down onto the bench beside the said Gryffindor and Aaron. "Harry, this is Aaron. We've been bumming it out for a year now on the streets," he said with a nod. Aaron hissed something at Gabriel, and the boy replied with something that sounded like a question '_Who is this kid, and how do you know him?' _"Ehh, well, I got a little hungry yesterday," he admitted "and there was this little house. So, I went in, and grabbed a bite, noticed some… ahh, other things, grabbed that too. Too bad it got Harry kicked out of his house for a bit, and gave him a bit of a bad rep, what with being called a lying, thieving scumbag, and having a row with his cousin, and aunt and uncle." Gabriel nodded, almost sympathetically as he leaned against Aaron's shoulder.

Harry remained silent for a few moments before realizing something. "Hey, I didn't tell you half of that stuff you just said! How the bloody hell did you know?"

"Oh, ehh… sorry, sort of poked around in your memory a bit. I won't do it again, but fair's fair, because you pointed your stick at me and tried to erase my memory." He muttered a quick "_I don't mean it like that_," to Aaron who was snickering softly.

"Pyrennth, you twit! That was a wand! How can you not know a wizard when you see one?"

"Ohh, ehh, I dunnno," Gabriel replied quite pathetically, receiving another punch from Aaron. Gabriel cringed, whacking Aaron back, muttering a "_It still hurts, dumb ass,_" before looking over at Harry.

Aaron clamped a strong hand over Gabriel's mouth. "Don't listen to him. He's just stupid." Harry found himself agreeing, but also backing away slowly, as Gabriel began to thrash under Aaron's restraint.


	2. Revelations disclosed

**Summary: **Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it's just him.

**Rating:** Rated M, because I don't think I could ever make this have a lower rating xD

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine, well, except for Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Those two hotties are mine, and so is the plot. HP characters belong to JK Rowling, and her publishers, or something like that.

**Pairings:**Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasly, Gabriel Pyrennth/Aaron Grimmel, and a surprise pairing that will make you go WTF. :3

**A/N:** If you haven't read the HBP book, there are some spoilers in this. Well, there will be spoilers throughout the rest of the chapters, so go read the seventh book now!

**Incendio – Chapter 2**

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Harry was ready to make a run for it when he heard a shout from behind, and he cast a glance over his shoulder seeing Aaron sitting on a limp and defeated Gabriel, with one hand still clamped firmly over the other boy's mouth. Gabriel was still scowling, as few would enjoy having someone forcibly shut them up. "And Harry?" Aaron was the one speaking, seeing as Gabriel was unable to. "You might want to stick around – believe it or not, it's probably safer around us, if you can believe it." He shot a glare at Gabriel, who glared right back. Both seemed ready to have a staring contest, and Harry interrupted them.

"And why is that?"

"Well, you don't have your wand, and from what I've heard you have a nasty habit of getting yourself into trouble. Or, at least, trouble and everything that follows finds you at rather convenient times." Aaron offered Harry a lopsided grin, and continued. "'Sides, it's only a night. And I'm not going to try to molest you," he muttered with a roll of his eyes. "I've got Gabriel here for that." He snickered, then stopped seeing Harry's rather distraught expression. He shrugged, and began amusing himself by poking Gabriel in the head.

Harry shook his head, watching the two before wandering over to the swings. He sat down on the hard wooden surface, curling his fingers around the chains that hung from the beam above him. The raven haired boy sighed, watching Aaron and Gabriel for a moment, trying to make out there words. It sounded like the garble of another language. Either that or they had some strange accents.

Harry closed his eyes, thinking about all that had happened. It had started a while ago – three years ago to be exact. With Cedric's death, almost-death of Mr. Weasley… then Sirius passing away, and Dumbledore's death what felt like only days ago, he was beginning to wonder how he was still functioning. Of course he felt remorse for them, and a pang of sadness… guilt came in great waves that almost threatened to consume him, but by now, he'd managed to cope, perhaps. Losing someone was always hard, and it continued proving itself to _be_ hard, but he knew he had to be strong. Now, more then ever, he had the entire wizarding community would be expecting something from him.

It was a miracle so few knew of the prophecy.

Harry opened his eyes, squinting in the bright light of the sun. It was nearing noon, but it wasn't tomorrow. Still today. He yawned, rubbing his hands on his jeans, feeling oddly cold.

"You okay?" Harry was startled out of his temporary reverie by the voice of Gabriel hovering near. Harry nodded mutely, twisting around so he could see that Gabriel was sitting on a swing beside him. "Hmm," Gabriel murmured, studying Harry's face intently. Eyes appeared to be a swirling mess of coal watched him for a few moments before Gabriel turned his gaze skyward. "You didn't look it. You got some stuff on your mind?" Gabriel questioned, asking the obvious, but perhaps asking Harry if he cared to share.

"Guess so," Harry replied, looking up, trying to see what Gabriel was looking at, but there was nothing. "Why?"

"You looked… I dunno, sad maybe, like nothing could ever help no matter how hard the other person, or thing might try. Like you have far too much weight on your shoulders for someone who isn't all that old in age." Gabriel peered Harry through one eye, then looked away. For this, Harry was glad, because he was now staring openly at the white haired boy. He was surprised – Gabriel's face showed no trace of a smile, which was strange considering the way he'd been acting only minutes ago. But the strangest of all was how Gabriel seemed to know _exactly_ what Harry felt. Harry watched the other boy now, his breath catching in his throat as the sunlight hit Gabriel, lighting up half his face, casting shadows and bright highlights upon every crevice and surface. It couldn't be said he was handsome, or beautiful, or anything, but simply… there. He seemed to hold a surreal image that appeared impossible, but one that he managed quite easily.

Harry shook his head, causing a cascade of hair as dark as Gabriel's eyes to cover his own. "I… lost someone," he said simply, with a small shrug. "And I just didn't realize how I felt – how it… hurt until now, I guess."

Gabriel nodded in simple understanding, a look of knowing crossing his face, if only for an instant. "It always hurts," he murmured, not bothering to look at Harry. "And it'll never get easier. But you gotta remember there are people there who might want to help, even if they can't. They want to. It's always better to love and lose, rather then never love at all. I think you have a firsthand experience in both of those areas." Gabriel feigned a smile, and stood up, leaving Harry to think, as if he didn't have enough to think about already.

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It would have been far more awkward if Aaron hadn't of been there. Gabriel had proposed the idea of going somewhere to eat, and Harry had tried to protest. He was still somewhat disoriented from that… 'talk' he'd had with Gabriel, and it didn't help that Gabriel saw fit to leave the park.

"What if my aunt and uncle come looking for me?" Harry protested, knowing it would never happen, knowing they wouldn't look for him until he'd been missing a few days.

"So, _would_ they come looking for you?" Aaron asked reasonably.

"Well…" Harry trailed off, and was saved from having to describe the complex relationship he and his relatives shared when Gabriel interrupted.

"Sounds good! We're off, then!" Gabriel jumped off the back of the bench, landing on the paved ground with a hard thunk as his steel toed boots met the pavement. "So, where to?" He questioned aloud. "How about one of those sandwich places? Seeing as that's what I took from you. Only fair, right?"

"It doesn't matter," Harry supplied helpfully.

"Of course it doesn't, what are you saying? We're talking about _food_ here – the gift from God! The… _food!_" He waved his arms around, trying to convey his message, and failed horribly.

"Was it a gift…?" Harry wondered, scratching his head.

"Who cares?" Came Gabriel's answer.

"Well, I say we go to one of those pho(1) places," Aaron stated, after having remained silent for a while.

"Ooh, like Pho King?" Gabriel snickered, shooting a glance at Aaron, raising one pierced eyebrow to emphasize his point. He earned an annoyed groan from Aaron, and a bewildered look from Harry.

"What? Fucking… what?" Harry blinked, now thoroughly confused.

"Pho! It's like this Vietnamese noodle. Thing. Err, is it a noodle, Aaron?"

"I dunno."

"Oh. Well, either way, it's very tasty. Just don't eat the tiny peppers on the plate of long stringy things. Those are damn spicy."

"You would know, dumb ass, you ate one!" Aaron snickered at his own words, remembering the time Gabriel had seen the pepper… and primly popped it in his mouth, only to be told by a waitress they were not for eating, but rather putting in your noodles.

"Yes. So I have first hand experience," he crowed, obviously looking quite pleased with himself. Aaron just shook his head. "So, off to Pho King, then, righty-o!" Aaron snickered.

"Idiot," he said affectionately.

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Eating noodles with chopsticks was probably the strangest experience Harry had ever faced. That would have to exclude a large number of things to rank top strangest, but it was still rather odd for him. It was like learning what magic was all over again. That funny feeling you get when you wonder if you're doing it right, or if you're doing it wrong and nobody wants to tell you so, since they want to see what else you'll do.

The world could be a very cruel place. And whoever invented chopsticks must have been out of their mind, because Harry was having some trouble holding them. By the time he'd managed to get enough noodles to ladle on to his oversized spoon (or whatever that was), Aaron had nearly finished his pho, and Gabriel was done. Harry stared at the huge bowl, wondering how they could cram it all in.

Aaron and Gabriel were now conversing with one another in what sounded like French, and they would break out in snickers every few moments. Gabriel cast him a glance, and tried to stop laughing, but failed rather horridly.

"What now?" Harry inquired, rather peeved.

"Oh, nothing," Gabriel said, attempting to sidestep the question.

"I know you're saying something, at least. So what were you saying?" Gabriel coughed, looking over at Aaron.

"Some of it I'd rather not say… and the rest I'd better not say," he said with a smirk.

Aaron grunted his agreement, muttering a '_something like that,_' before continuing to eat his pho.

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By the time Harry finished, it was sometime around noon, and he could attest that was full. The strange trio left the store, and Harry hadn't bothered to ask why they hadn't paid for their meal.

The silence that had been present throughout the meal was broken when Aaron finally spoke up. In an almost annoyed, gruff voice, he inquired what they might be doing. "We gonna go anywhere, or just lurk about at the park?"

"Boring!" Gabriel declared with a loud voice, causing a few people to turn their heads, and Aaron to kick Gabriel between the shoulder blades. "Ow, meanie," Gabriel complained, turning around to glare.

"Stupid," Aaron retorted, with a snicker. "O-genki desu-ka?"

"Deinki desu!" Gabriel declared something in another language, causing Aaron to laugh and kick him once more.

"What did he say?" Harry demanded, wondering if he really wanted to know.

"Well, see, one time we took this Japanese course because Pyrennth has this obsession with learning languages. So, when the professor asked use _'_O-genki desu-ka,' How are you? Gabriel replied with Deinki desu, rather then _Genki_ desu. This meant he declared himself as a light bulb, rather then saying he was well." Harry found himself grinning along with Aaron, and his grin widened at the sight of Gabriel's annoyed look, after being kicked twice.

"What was that, uh, kick you did?" Harry stuttered, wondering why he felt so foolish for asking a simple question.

"Front snap kick, as it's referred to in the art of Tae Kwon Do." He shrugged at Harry's bemused expression. "I took Tae Kwon Do when I was a kid. Haven't forgotten much, that's all." Harry thought there might be more to that explanation, but he decided to drop it.

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As many times as Harry had been warned never to go off with strangers, or accept food, he'd done both, and nothing bad had come of it. He'd gotten to try that 'pho' stuff, and afterwards Aaron, Gabriel, and Harry wandered into the Chinese district of London, as they were on the outskirts of it anyways. They came across an interesting store that sold rather shady looking items, including swords and weapons. It had fascinated Aaron and Gabriel, but left Harry a little unnerved by their interest.

After that, they'd managed to find their way back to the park by nightfall. It didn't appear as though anything was wrong, and for that Harry was glad. Both his aunt, nor uncle had come looking for him, and he saw no trace of flashing lights. He hadn't been missed.

He sat on the bench, staring out into the gloomy darkness, jolted awake by a loud snore from Aaron, who was currently residing beneath a tree. Gabriel had found a way to climb a tree, and was now sleeping in it like some sort of feline. Harry had wondered if Gabriel would fall out, and worried about it until Aaron had assured him nothing would happen.

He'd managed to fall asleep, but was awoken by Gabriel shaking him awake, with a distinct frown upon his face.

"You were having one hell of a nightmare, Harry," Gabriel stated. Harry blinked, his mind whirling in a state of comatose. And with sudden start, he remembered the dream.

First his parents, screaming, saying they regretted ever saving him.

"You hit your cousin, Harry! How could you?" Lily screamed at him, and Harry remembered himself cowering. Then, Cedric, and Voldemort's face as he killed the boy without any thought. Sirius, then Dumbledore. And Snape's sneering face as he'd cast the killing curse upon the headmaster.

Harry blanched, staring at Gabriel with wide eyes. "It was nothing," he muttered, sullenly.

"Sure as hell it wasn't! Not many kids shout things in their sleep that include the words _'don't die,' _and _'it wasn't my fault.'_ You've got some heavy guilt, obviously." Gabriel bit his lip, thinking. "Just try to go back to sleep, kay?" He patted Harry's head in an almost fatherly manner, and climbed back into his tree.

Once Harry had thought the other had fallen asleep, he let himself drift off, relishing the sleep that came, without any deaths, or screams.

Gabriel watched Harry for a few minutes after the boy had fallen asleep, keeping a watchful eye on the boy before he allowed himself to sleep as well.

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(1) Pho, the Vietnamese 'noodle' is pronounced FUH. So Pho King sounds like… well, sound it out. You know what I mean ;D

And as a little note, I did go to a pho restaurant… and I did eat the little pepper… and DAMN that was hot xD Never again will I eat random peppers without first inquiring –falls over-


	3. Don't eat the peppers!

**Summary: **Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it's just him.

**Rating:** Rated M, because I don't think I could ever make this have a lower rating xD

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine, well, except for Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Those two hotties are mine, and so is the plot. And Abby (Absentis Memoria). She's my character too, and anything made upxD HP characters belong to JK Rowling, and her publishers, or something like that.

**Pairings:**Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasly, Gabriel Pyrennth/Aaron Grimmel, and a surprise pairing that will make you go WTF. :3

**A/N:** Yay, reviews! xD –bows- And the WTF pairing will come soon, do not worry!

**Incendio – Chapter 3**

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After having woken up at seven o'clock sharp every day like clockwork, it was a wonder Harry managed to sleep two hours over that time. He was greeted by a rather enthusiastic Gabriel, and a still sleeping Aaron.

"He'll prolly sleep for another hour or so," Gabriel informed Harry when he noticed he had been looking over at the half Japanese boy resting under the tree. Harry nodded, squinting in the harsh sunlight. It took a while for his eyes to adjust, and by the time they did, he noticed Gabriel had abandoned him, and was now crouched in a small turf of grass, looking at a flower of sorts.

"Hey, pansy, what're you looking at?" Harry called out to Gabriel, wandering over to join him.

"Bachelors buttons, not pansies" he said gesturing to the cluster of blue-purple flowers. "There's a few monarchs," he said, peering into the stalks intently. Harry crouched down beside him, seeing what appeared to be a huge colony of butterflies. "Though, I'm not sure why they're in this patch – butterflies are usually more attracted to colours like red," he murmured as an afterthought. "Oh, well," he gave one of the stalks a jiggle, and the butterflies took flight, the sky momentarily painted by the streaks of orange and black.

Gabriel paused, watching the butterflies, and then looked over at Harry with an indignant look splayed across his features. "And I am _not_ a Pansy!" He retorted to Harry's earlier words.

Harry snorted. "Are too! You know the names of _flowers_. You're a poof if I ever saw one." He grinned, watching as Gabriel's brows drew together in a frown.

"That's mean," he complained, earning another snort from Harry. "What would _you_ do if I called you a pansy? You wouldn't like it!" Gabriel stuck out his tongue, causing the piercing in it to catch the suns rays, glinting. "And besides. I'm bi," he muttered.

Harry snickered. "Whatever you say, Gabe." He replied easily, standing up. "And besides, I'm straight. I'm no… flower!" This earned a snort from Gabriel.

"Everyone has a little daffodil inside them! You just sort of attacked yours and tore it to pieces. Poor daffodil," he said, flopping back onto the ground.

Harry shook his head, casting the flowers a glance. "You're insane," he muttered.

"Oh, no, you ain't seen nothing 'till you seen Aaron on Lebanese coffee. Dark." Gabriel shivered, as if the memory brought back a horrible nightmare. "Now _that_ is some crazy strong as shit if I've ever seen any!"

"Lebanese coffee?" Harry inquired, wondering what the… well, just what it was!

"Coffee dumb bass," Gabriel said, snickering. "It comes from Lebanon. Syria. Middle East. Totally owns up Starbucks, but then, everything does. Starbucks is crap. Tim Hortons, now _that's_ drinkable coffee." He grinned widely at Harry's lost expression. "Never mind," he said as an afterthought.

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"Gwah, no, it's _blinding_ me! Aaron! Save meee!" A bellowed cry came from Gabriel, who was still lying on the grass, even after a few hours. Though he did get up and start bothering Aaron, he eventually lost interest and went back to his place on the grass. "It buuurrrns!" He exclaimed, even louder this time.

"Do not fear, Aaron is… ack, I'm coming," Aaron grinned at Gabriel's childish display, raising an eyebrow as he passed Harry.

When they neared the white haired boy, they saw he was now writing in mock agony, though, surprisingly, still managing to stay clean. "What are you, some vampiric being from some distant land?" Aaron inquired with a snicker.

"Yes, the sun, it burns!" Gabriel opened one eye to see Harry and Aaron attempting to bite back laughter. "Hey, c'mon guys! It's bright!" He sat up, and then fell back down. "Oh no, the sun has rendered my legs useless! Aaron!" Gabriel began again with his incessant wailing.

"Oh, shut up, you Pansy!" Aaron said, lightly kicking Gabriel in the foot.

"Traitor!" Gabriel said, casting a glare at Harry, and earning nothing but a shrug. "Aaron, carry meeee," he said, pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Fine," Aaron muttered, picking up Gabriel as if he were nothing more then a young child. "If I don't agree now, he'll never shut up," he said, sharing a grin with Harry.

"My saviooor!" Gabriel crowed, wrapping his arms around Aaron. Aaron simply rolled his eyes. Harry coughed, slightly grinning at the boy's antics. "Horrid sun, that thing. Right in my eyes, I say – I was just lying there, minding my own business, and VACHOOM, the sun is directly above! Not fair says I," Gabriel pouted. "But Aaron saved me," he continued with a big grin, and awarded his 'savior' with a peck on the cheek.

"Stupid, not out here! What will our fans say? They'll be all '_oh noes, and I didn't bring my camera!' _and we'll have to be all '_sorry girls, we hate to disappoint you_,' and then, and then where will we be?" Aaron relinquished his grip on Gabriel momentarily so he could whack the other boy in the head.

"Ow," Gabriel muttered. "Well, then, Harry, it's noon, so you best be off, yeah?"

"Err," Harry fumbled for a reply, finally managed to stutter a "yeah," before giving them a wave.

"Tata, Harry dearest!" Gabriel shouted, blowing Harry a kiss.

"What's this?" Aaron pretended to look aghast. "Are you cheating on me now?"

"Oh, yes," Gabriel purred. "Me and Harry are long time friends, and we had an _amazing_ reunion party last night, isn't that right, Harry?" Gabriel winked seductively, earning a jaw dropping stare from Harry. "See? I told you, Aaron!"

"Well, I'm not sharing!" Aaron retorted.

"Greedy little bastard, aren't you?" Gabriel said with a snicker.

"Damn straight, Pyrennth," Aaron replied, with a grin and wave, to Harry as they set off, in the opposite direction Harry was going.

Harry began walking, but turned around when he heard the two boys shouting, though their words were garbled, and it seemed as though they were conversing in another language. Apparently, Aaron had decided Gabriel could walk on his own, and now Gabriel reminded Harry a lot like a puddle of goo, simply laying on the ground without moving a muscle.

"Idiots," Harry said with a grin.

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"Boy!" The screech of Uncle Vernon's voice reached Harry's ears even before they were uttered. "So, you came back? Crawling back, like the filthy bug you are, eh?" Vernon grinned viciously. "Too bad, eh, Dudley?" Harry's cousin voiced his consent. "Well, you may as well get yourself in here before the neighbors see," he stated with a slightly apprehensive look. Vernon made to close the door, and grunted when he found he could not. Harry turned around fearfully, seeing the silver sheen of a steel toed boot protruding from the opening between the door and the wall. "Whos'ere?" Vernon barked unintelligently.

"Just a couple of Mr. Potter's associates," came the smooth voice. Harry restrained a gasp – it sounded like Gabriel, but there was no jest or joke in his voice. The door was thrown open abruptly, revealing both Aaron and Gabriel. They didn't look any different from the way they'd appeared only moments ago, but they were both wearing t shirts now, and looked far more menacing then when he'd last seen them. "We're here to help our friend Mr. Potter help _you_ keep his best interests at heart." He crossed his arms, the left fore arm bandaged from wrist to elbow contrasting with his dark shirt in stark, whiteness. His other forearm was decorated with a tattoo, teals and orange flames mingling, looking very much alive. Aaron stood beside Gabriel, silently, a haughty expression crossing his face. His mixture of sandy brown and pure black hair stood up at all angles, but still managed to look like a fashion statement. Harry wondered why _his_ hair wouldn't do that.

"…and I should hope that you don't always speak so lowly of your only nephew," Gabriel said, breaking into Harry's thoughts. He realized he'd missed part of the boy's words, but could tell from his relative's reactions that it hadn't been very kind. "And furthermore, I should think you'd be, ah, honoured to be housing such a young man. After all, if your honour does not carry you through, you will have Aaron and I to answer to. Aaron sneered; casting the Dursley's a look of raw hatred. Even if he didn't hate them he made it seem so rather convincingly.

"Filth," was the only word Aaron muttered before the two retreated, leaving the Dursley's open mouthed, and staring in shock. Harry quietly tiptoed away they could notice he was gone.

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The summer had seemed to drag on, but once again, Harry found himself receiving the letter to attend Hogwarts once more. There had been an extra note, from Headmistress McGonagall. _Headmistress_… it had all seemed to confirm what Harry had been dreading, trying to dissuade himself from this entire summer.

Harry sighed, throwing down the letter, lying down on his bed. He stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep, only to be haunted by his nightmares.

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McGonagall's voice rang out through the great hall, prim and clipped, and thoroughly aware of the circumstances surrounding her being the headmistress of Hogwarts. She greeted everyone with a strong voice, and announced the first years, which was surprising in itself. Harry didn't believe anyone would want to send their beloved children after what had happened there previously. He bit back a bitter glance towards Ron at this thought, well aware of how his friends large family contrasted to his own pitiful excuse for one.

"And I am pleased to announce that we will be having three new teachers at the school," McGonagall continued, waking Harry from his own lacuna of a reverie. "Professor Tonks will be our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," McGonagall said with a dramatic pause, leaving Harry to wonder who the other teachers might be. A new Potions Professor, perhaps? He relished the idea of being rid of Snape, even under the wretched circumstances. "…and Professor Grimmel and Professor Pyrennth will be our new Professors, as the fitness and physical defense teachers. They will also be assisting in students taking Muggle Studies and Arithmancy. I hope you show them as much respect as I should hope they deserve. That is all, students; you may head to your dormitories." McGonagall swept away, leaving Hagrid to bark out a loud "You heard her! Get a moving!" who also followed suite and exited.

Harry found himself rather lucky that Hermione and Ron were there; otherwise he would have been left behind in the swarm of students attempting to exit the hall.

"You okay, mate?" Ron inquired peering down at his friend. "Y'look sort of funny, y'know?" He asked rhetorically, earning a nod from Harry. "Alright, lets go then," Ron finally said, and pulled Harry to his feet, then abandoned him to join Hermione as they directed students in their house towards the exit.

"Colin, honestly, most would think you knew where a door was when you saw one!" Ron shouted at the boy in an exasperated tone after Colin had walked into wall near the door. Harry snickered, following Ron and Hermione out of the hall, but still determined to talk to them later about all this.

He forced his mind onto other topics, seeing as if he even stopped paying attention to where he was going for a moment, he'd most likely end up the way Colin had – squashed, and sent to the hospital wing. Apparently, he'd started gushing blood, and they'd found a fourth year to accompany him to see the nurse.

Harry managed to find some first years on his way to the common rooms, looking horribly lost and rather fearful of their surroundings. Of course, it could be the damn staircases – whoever built the place must have been on _something_ to think a staircase (of all things!) was a good idea to move around and about.

Harry approached the group of first years, noting that there were about four girls and two boys in the group, one trying to show them the way, but failing miserably.

"Guys, we have to go _this_ way – remember what the prefect said? Past the man with the dog in the portrait, then up the staircase with a purple stain, following the long and narrow picture frames, and then up a few more flights of steps." The girl shook her head, now looking thoroughly aggravated, the motion sending dark locks of ebony hair flying in every direction.

"U-up those s-stairs?" One boy managed to stutter, staring at them in fear. "What if we fall? Wouldn't we…" he took a large gulp, then managed to whisper, "die?"

"That's only if you don't step on the stair!" The girl was now looking rather annoyed at the boy. "And if you fall, I'm sure he'll do something about it," the girl gestured towards Harry. The group of first years all turned towards Harry, excluding then speaker. Jaws dropped, and one even managed to utter his name.

Harry decided it would be better to simply skip the formalities and head straight to the point. "She's right, you know," he said bluntly.

"You mean you _would_ save us?" One girl stared openly, and her look soon turned to something else, a blush crossing her face.

"Err," Harry stuttered inconclusively.

"He means that the only way up is by taking the stairs, _and_ I'm sure he, or any of us, would let you die if we could help it, Erik." The girl shot Erik an annoyed glance, and steered him towards the stairs.

"Uh, well, shall we go?" Harry asked.

"We have to wait for the stairs to come back here," the girl said dryly, eyeing Harry.

"Oh, yeah. When they do, I mean," he said, face flushing slightly. The girl raised an eyebrow, and glanced at her friends before looking back at Harry.

"Abby," she said, thrusting out a hand.

"Harry," he said, shaking it, knowing she knew exactly who he was.

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The group managed to make it to the common rooms, and faced no dangers, except for the risk of Erik wetting his pants. How could a kid afraid of… _stairs_ make it into a house like Gryffindor? He seemed more suited to Hufflepuff, if anything. But then, many said Hermione would have made a better Ravenclaw, so you really couldn't judge thinks like that.

They entered the common rooms, and were greeted by a loud cheer, which was more like a steady throb of noise then anything.

"Harry!" Came Hermione's shout, and he managed to find her sitting at 'her' chair by the fireplace. Harry gave a small wave, making his way towards Hermione.

"Oh, heya, Hermione," Harry said greeting her. "Ron," he said, a nod directed to his friend.

"Where were you? What took you so long?" By now Hermione had put her book down, and was studying Harry intently, as if she expected him to break down any minute, and inform her he'd been crying in a hallway.

"Oh, I found some first years. They were having a bit of trouble navigating their way here," he replied.

"But I gave the group perfectly clear instructions on how to get here! And surely, it wasn't that difficult," Hermione protested, looking slightly put out that she had made an error in something.

"Oh, the directions were beyond adequate; it was more the members of the group that proved insufficient, contrast to your instructions." Hermione turned around to see Abby standing there, hands clasped behind her back, standing on the tips of her toes so she could see over the back of the chair.

"Oh, uhm, thank you," Hermione mumbled. Ron and Harry shared a grin.

"A friend of mine was simply having doubts on the direction we were going, and the, ah, safety of our route." She rolled her eyes haughtily, as if saying _And he even _bothered_ to doubt me!_

"Don't you belong in Ravenclaw?" Came Ron's blunt reply.

"Actually, it was more of a toss of Slytherin and Griffindor. The pudgy hat insisted that I'd be more suited to Griffindor then any other house, so I relented." She gave a non committal shrug. "Well, I'd best be off. I have a bit to unpack, and a few things to set straight. Might any of you know a decent warding charm, perhaps?"

Hermione lit up, bringing her book (which happened to be this years Potions text), and informed Abby that she knew quite a few handy ones. After a light discussion, the two set off into the girl's dorm, leaving Harry and Ron to themselves.

"A right mirror image, ain't she?" Ron finally said, earning a grin from Harry. "And Hermione was even reading the Potions textbook. Not reading, _reviewing_ she'd said. She's already been over it a million times, and she's probably done some research on the topic, even." He rolled his eyes. "She's far too motivated. It gets annoying," he muttered.

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"Wow, she knows _everything,_" Abby informed Ron and Harry after she'd descended down the stairs of the girl's dorm. Her face portrayed no emotions of amazement, or surprise, simply a look that could only be classified as the internet acronym of WTH, or _What the hell?_ Harry and Ron grinned at the girls words, nodding in agreement.

"You should have seen her today! She was-"

"_Reviewing_ her text? Yes, I sure heard," Abby said, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I'm all for knowing things ahead of time, being prepared and whatnot, but this is _school_. People are supposed to teach you this! The way she goes about it, all she'd need is a few books and she'd have learned everything that'll be taught this year." She paused, a solemn look crossing her face. "She'd put poor teachers out of their jobs! Oh, think of it, if the rest of the world were like her!" She sighed dramatically, falling onto the couch in front of the fireplace.

The odd group of Gryffindors laughed at her display, and then fell silent. Harry decided to break the tension with a bit of small talk, perhaps.

"So, why'd you not… want to be in Slytherin?" He finally asked.

"Ugh, it's _those two's_ house," she said in mock disdain.

"Who's?" Ron piped in, now attentive to the new conversation.

"Aa- Professor Grimmel and Professor Pyrennth's house," she said, with a roll of her large, silvery eyes.

"You know them?" Harry asked, suddenly.

"Know who?" Hermione came down the stairs of the girls dorm, looking from Harry to Abby.

"Grimmel and Pyrennth's house," Harry replied.

"Didn't you send me a letter about a Gabriel Pyrennth, Harry?" Hermione asked, a frown creasing her face.

"Oh, yeah, I did," he said, having forgotten about that.

"Wait, how do _you_ know them?" Abby said, finally.

"I, uh, found Pyrennth sitting in my house eating a sandwich," he said, earning a burst of laughter from Ron. "I'm serious, it's true! It-"

"It sounds like Pyrennth," Abby said, crossing her arms.

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined in, their combined voices making the words a shout.

"Gabriel Pyrennth – that dope, and Grim and I know one another. I'm sort of their adopted daughter, but not really. More like Pyrennth's 'shadow,' as he calls me, which is a fitting title." Harry blinked dumbly.

"So, you know them, then?" He asked.

"Yes, I do!" She sounded rather annoyed now, but managed to stop herself from shouting. "About two years now. They're both idiots, and are rather clueless about magic. Or, were, since McGonagall asked them to start a new course here, mandatory to anyone that is a fourth year or higher. So, they had about two months to figure out _what_ magic is, and how to do it."

The trio simply stared. "How'd they manage that?" Hermione finally asked, looking rather annoyed.

"Sheer luck and talent, I'm guessing," replied Abby. She shrugged.

"Wow," said Ron. Hermione shot him a disapproving glare. "What?" he asked, but was ignored.

"So what _is_ their class, anyways?" Harry asked. And as an afterthought, added another comment. "And why wasn't there a book we had to pick up?"

"Oh, they said you wouldn't be using textbooks," Abby replied. Ron let out a whoop, and Hermione frowned. "You'll probably be copying notes, but not much is going to be paper and pencil. Err, parchment and quill."

"But what _is_ the class?" Harry persisted.

"You heard the headmistress - fitness and physical defense." With that, Abby left the trio, headed for her dorm. Harry and Ron decided to follow suite, and headed to the boy's dorm after they'd bade Hermione good night.

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Bwarr. Review, perhaps? I'm still new to this whole 'writing' thing, so please be kind ;D Should I continue? What do you think:3 And thanks to those who reviewed! -bows- I was actually ready to post this chapter a day ago, but there was a glitch, and it didn't happen. So, I wrote some more, and got an even longer chapter! Oh, goody.


	4. Argh, it's TOO BIG

**Summary: **Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it's just him.

**Rating:** Rated M, because I don't think I could ever make this have a lower rating xD

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine, well, except for Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Those two hotties are mine, and so is the plot. And Abby (Absentis Memoria). She's my character too, and anything made upxD HP characters belong to JK Rowling, and her publishers, or something like that.

**Pairings:**Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasly, Gabriel Pyrennth/Aaron Grimmel, and a surprise pairing that will make you go WTF. :3

**Incendio – Chapter 4**

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Harry wasn't sure how Hermione had managed it, but when he got up to his dorms, he saw that she'd left him his schedule for the year. Being a prefect also meant she had to hand out timetables to every Gryffindor. Of course, Ron might have been a prefect as well, but that didn't mean he actually did any _work_. If he did, it was usually shouting at someone, something that he was doing right that moment.

"Seamus, you loaf, wake up!" Ron had tried to slip a magicked marshmallow under Seamus while he'd been sleeping, but instead of managing to get the item beneath the boy's sleeping form, Seamus had rolled over, pinning Ron's entire arm underneath him. And quite unfortunately for Ron, Seamus wasn't a very light person.

"Ron, why don't you just pull your arm out?" Harry asked what seemed to be the most obvious question, one that contained the most obvious solution. Wriggle your way out.

"I can't! That's what these damn marshmallows do- they make it so they stick anything around them, and then they melt and get all hot and it's rather annoying. And the only way to unstick it is by getting a member from the house you hate the most to cast an unsticking charm! Fred and George gave this to me to test, since they were going to be selling it, but now I'm stuck to Seamus and the bed!" Ron waved his only unstuck arm, emphasizing the amount of trouble both he and Seamus were now in. He sighed, rather deflated now, and flopped onto the ground. "You wouldn't happen to be friends with any Slytherins, would you, Harry?" Ron asked, rather hopefully.

"No, I don't think so," Harry said, giving Ron one of those sort of looks that said _duh_. He went through the list of Slytherins – Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe… with every name he thought of, he got a little more depressed. He doubted there was anyone in Slytherin who didn't think him living was like… well, let's not get into comparison, but he couldn't think of any students. "Ron, is it only students?"

Ron looked horrorstruck. "You're going to ask _Snape_? Oh, God, save me," he moaned pitifully.

"No, stupid!" Harry retorted, exasperatedly. "That new professor – Pyrennth, he's in Slytherin, remember?"

Ron gaped, dumbly. "How'd you figure out that?" Seeing Harry's annoyed look, he hastily added, "not that Hermione's the only one who thinks! I mean, the only one who had ideas that work. I mean. Ehh, try, yeah," he said, and began banging his head against the sideboard of the bed.

"Uh, okay, I'll go see if I can find him. Any ideas?"

"Whaddayamean?" Ron slurred unintelligently.

"Where Pyrennth might be, know where?"

"Uh… his rooms, maybe? It's still dark out. I imagine he's sleeping."

"Good enough," Harry replied, throwing on some clothes, grabbing his maurauder's map, and rushed out of the room. He muttered the incantation, squinting at the map as he searched it for Pyrennth's name. He didn't see the professor's name listed anywhere in the school. In fact, it looked as though his name was even on there. Odd. Harry frowned, and looked for Aaron's name, this time spotting a small dot in the Forbidden Forest, along with an unlabelled one. Harry frowned once more, wondering what this point meant.

Harry stumbled as he tripped over the couch in the common room, shocking him back into the real world. He looked around, but no one was up yet. His frown remained as he headed back to his room, ignoring an annoyed Ron.

"Didn't you look for them?" Ron demanded.

"They're in the Forbidden Forest," Harry replied, sifting through his trunk in search of his broomstick.

"Why would they be there?"

"How should I know?" Harry asked with a definite snort. He threw open the window, shivering slightly as the room was blasted with a gust of cool air.

"Watch it, Harry!" Came Ron's shout.

"Sorry!" Harry called back, getting onto his broom. He wobbled a bit, still feeling rather sleepy. It was, after all, the morning of the first day of school. He hovered outside of the window for a moment, closing it, and then taking off towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry angled his broom towards the trees, soaring slowly through the dense growth. He checked the map, seeing that he was still rather far away. He urged his Firebolt faster, constantly checking the map to see if he was going in the right direction.

After what seemed like a _very_ long time, Harry finally slowed at the sound of metal resounding against metal. He inched closer, glad he had a broom for the silence it provided. Another clang and Harry peered through the trees, seeing two swords now, and the bearers none other then Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Both looked rather tired, and their breath came in short, ragged gasps, but they continued with their relentless attacks. It appeared as though Pyrennth had already claimed a wound – a gash that ran horizontally across his stomach. Aaron sported a few various cuts, but none as deep, or as large as Pyrennth's.

Harry's jaw dropped. If this was what they'd been referring to when they said 'fitness and physical defense,' Harry couldn't say he would be looking forward to their class. Attacking one another with a big chunk of metal? He'd already been there, and doing that hadn't been too enjoyable.

But their fighting style was nothing compared to what he'd managed to do when he'd used that sword the one time. One would lunge, the other would parry, and usually counter attack. One would step forward, the other would sidestep. Everything was being used to the other's advantage. When Pyrennth advanced, Aaron used the momentary lapse in time to attack, catching Pyrennth slightly unbalanced. Pyrennth used his own unstable footing against Aaron, and dropped to the ground, lashing out with his foot, bringing Aaron to the ground. They both recovered quickly, and were on their feet again, this time, Pyrennth attacking, gripping his Japanese sword with both hands, swinging diagonally. Aaron raised his own sword, and the two stood in a dead lock, each trying to overpower the other. In the end, Aaron won the battle for power, and sent Gabriel sprawling. He lunged, holding his sword at Gabriel's neck.

"One for me," Aaron said.

"Draw," Pyrennth replied, pointing his own sword at the other professor's leg.

"Damn. Draw." Pyrennth snickered, raising an eyebrow, and stuck out his arm, allowing Aaron to yank him to his feet. As soon as Gabriel was standing, Aaron had sheathed his sword, and began kissing him intently. By then, Pyrennth had sheathed his sword as well, and had snaked one arm around Aaron's waist, and the other rested on Aaron's chest. Harry decided to show himself when Pyrennth began kissing Aaron's neck, eliciting moans from the other boy. They broke apart quickly at the sound of Harry's interruption, Pyrennth looking slightly put out, and Aaron looking rather annoyed.

"Oh, it's only Harry, we're fine," Pyrennth said with a suggestive smirk. He reached up, pulling Aaron closer, as if to continue where they'd left off.

"Stupid," Aaron said, twining his finger's with Pyrennth's, and lowering the other boy's arm. "He obviously has a reason to be here, otherwise he wouldn't have come all this way. So, Harry. Spill."

"Ron's gotten himself stuck to Seamus and Seamus' bed, and it needs a Slytherin to reverse the spell and can you help?" Harry fumbled with the words, saying everything in a rush, a faint blush creeping up on him. Pyrennth laughed, and then clutched his stomach, remembering he wasn't in the condition to do such. Aaron simply nodded.

"Pyrennth is going to go get his wounds treated, so I'll come."

"No I'm not!" Pyrennth protested meekly, earning a disapproving glare from Aaron.

"Your opinion is invalid and will not be considered in the current discussion. Please shut yourself up before I do."

"Ooh, getting kinky, are we now?"

"Oh, yes, it's going to be a real mouthful," Aaron said dryly, but a twinkle could be seen in his eyes.

"And lots of bondage and maybe a whip too, I'm sure?" Pyrennth grinned, trying to come off as a young, hopeful child, but only ended up looking rather foolish. It didn't help that Aaron decided to cast a Silencio on Pyrennth, which caused him to begin glaring rather heatedly.

"You will go to the hospital wing, whether I decide to cast the Imperius upon you or not." Aaron crossed his arms, and taking a wide stance to show he was serious. Finally, Pyrennth nodded. "Alright, lead the way, Harry," Aaron said at last.

"It's a long way off. I mean, it will take ages if you're going to be walking." Harry stated yet again what he thought to be the obvious. They were quite deep into the forest, and he didn't think Ron would enjoy waiting for ten minutes, or even twenty with his hand stuck in an area that will remain unmentioned.

"We'll run it," Aaron said, this time believing he stated an obvious fact. Harry looked dubiously at Pyrennth, who was now bleeding a bit too much for his taste, then thinking back to their spar.

"Aren't you a bit, uh, tired?" Harry asked, continuing with this 'obvious' trend that was forming.

"Dead tired, yup," Aaron said, acknowledging Harry's words. "But that doesn't mean we won't make it. Lucky you, you've just witnessed a bit of what our class will be on, and an idea of a bit more on it. Don't tell your friends yet." He grinned, and Harry gaped. It appeared as though 'fitness and physical defense' _was_ in fact referring to what he'd seen today.

"And you won't… trip, or fall?" Harry continued.

"Perhaps. But then, what is training without a few cuts and bruises?" He shot a look at Pyrennth, who was still under the Silencio. He jerked his head back towards the clearing, and began looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Harry asked, hovering above the two on his broom, and getting a nice view of Pyrennth's backside. Harry nearly fell off his broom, and would have welcomed the impact, for he felt a deep crimson blush creeping up on him. He frowned, wondering where that thought had come from (especially since it was a little unbidden). For now, he'd blame all this on Pyrennth. After all, his professor did not appear to restrict himself to only one gender. Of course, Aaron was in the same boat, and it appeared as though the two were boyfriends/lovers, or something to that affect.

"Our other swords," Aaron replied. Aaron said something to Pyrennth, this time in another language. Pyrennth snickered, and then pointed over towards his left. Aaron started towards the area pointed out by Pyrennth, suddenly stopping abruptly. He stood there for a few moments, as if thinking about something.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked at last.

"My sword is stuck in this tree," Aaron said. At first Harry thought he might be joking – a sword? Stuck in a tree? How often does one utter those words? But yet, Aaron looked to be completely serious.

"Why don't you… uh, pull it out?" Harry put in helpfully.

"I don't think I'll…" Aaron shot an icy glare at Pyrennth. "Stop giggling, you idiot. And yes, I do know what you're thinking." Pyrennth continued with his laugh, and then went back to scouring out his swords.

"Well, why don't you accio it, then?" Harry landed beside Aaron, looking at the sword, which was stuck rather well. Aaron gave him one of those _'are you stupid?'_ looks.

"Swords are sharp. If you haven't noticed," he said, causing Harry to flinch. Whoops. He'd forgotten about that part. "And I haven't yet mastered some sort of controlled accio. Or even given that any thought." He sighed, muttered a charm, which coated the sword with a slimy substance. "Lubrication charm," he muttered after seeing Harry's bewildered look. Off in the distance, he heard Pyrennth laugh. Aaron gave the sword a hard jerk, and it came free, splattering the ground with the lubricant. Aaron muttered another charm, and it was cleaned up. A few more incantations later, and Aaron had sharpened the blade, and cleaned it. "Rather useful couple spells," he said, examining the blade before sheathing it. "You'll be learning that one in our class as well," he said, casting a glance over at Pyrennth. "Race you to the school," Aaron said with a grin. He flicked his wand, and the silencio charm was lifted.

"You're on, hot ass," Pyrennth replied. The two dashed off, leaving Harry still standing in the clearing only just a _little_ dumbstruck. After a few moments, Harry sped after the two on his broom, searching for them, all the while wondering how they'd gotten so far and why he couldn't find them.

After thinking this, Harry pulled his broom to an abrupt halt, nearly crashing into the running form of Pyrennth.

It ended rather quickly, with the three bursting out of the Forbidden Forest, with Pyrennth and Aaron arguing heatedly over who was the winner. They both stopped talking rather suddenly, both giving the other a glare, then continuing towards the school. The two exchanged dialogue in the same guttural language they'd been conversing in only minutes ago all the way to the school.

Aaron followed Harry through the entrance of the school, towards the Tower, and Pyrennth had already began making his way towards the Hospital wing.

Once Harry and Aaron arrived at the Tower, Harry realized it was _still_ too early, and only Hermione was up. She jumped to her feet upon seeing Harry and Aaron enter.

"Harry! Professor Grimmel!" She smoothed her robes, holding her extra large book in her hands. Aaron eyed the cover warily before raising a hand in greeting. "Hermione Granger!" She said, earning a nod from Aaron. She didn't bother asking why either was entering the common room at this time – she knew she'd get the truth out of Harry eventually. For the sake of interrogation, Harry decided to tell her a bit about what was going on.

"Hey, Hermione. Ron got his hand stuck to Seamus and Seamus' bed, so I had to find a Slytherin to unstick him. Apparently the spell can only be reversed by one, and, well, I remembered Abby telling us that the two new teachers were in Slytherin." He shrugged. Hermione simply narrowed her eyes. She knew there was more, but once again, she'd have time to ask him about it later.

Harry led Aaron towards the rooms, and opened the door, ushering Aaron in. Upon this, Aaron commented on their style of decorating. "Rather bright, innit?" he said, peering at the curtains around the beds, each adorned with little lions, all the same red and gold colour.

"Uhh," Harry started. He was about to comment that their decorating style was not the crisis at hand (at which, he was sure Aaron would reply it was far more so then what he'd been brought here for, being Slytherin and whatnot.)

"Harry!" Ron was now sitting on the floor, and hat ceased banging his head against the sideboard, for now, at least. "I've got a big lump on my head and a big oaf on my hand. Help. Me. Now." He spoke the last three through gritted teeth, glaring.

"Well, both of those things are your fault, aren't they?" Harry asked with a grin. "And everyone _knows_ banging your head against something… well hurts. And eventually gives you a bruise."

"I would know, I was dropped on my head when I was a baby," Aaron replied dryly, earning shocked stares from both Ron and Harry. "Actually, no, I wasn't." He shrugged. "Just felt like saying that." He managed to finish speaking, all the while remaining rather straight faced. Harry wondered how in the world he managed that. "So, this, ah, sticking charm. What do I do to unstick it?"

"Harry, open my trunk. At the bottom, there's a purple piece of paper. Don't comment on the colour. It has the charm to have to say."

Harry dug through Ron's trunk, finally producing the paper. "Found it!" He said, waving the paper around.

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." Ron gave him annoyed look. "Pass that to Professor Grimmel, then."

"Oh, no, I think I'll just keep this. As a souvenir, you know. For old time's sakes." At Ron's enraged look, he sighed. "I was _joking_. Sarcasm at its best, mate." He handed Aaron the piece of paper, watching as his professor quickly scanned the paper.

"Alright," Aaron said at last. "Rather odd, but it should work. Whoever did this knows their Latin," he mused, trailing off. Ron puffed up proudly.

"Of course, my brothers did this!"

"Then you should know they did _too_ good of a job. This only works for unsticking one thing. They made sure of that. I'll have to send you to Pomfrey to get her to finish the charm." He shrugged at Ron's fallen face. "I'll unstick you from the bed so you can make it there. I'm sure it'll be a bit easier to maneuver without a bed attached to your hand, after all." He pulled out his wand, giving it a quick swish and flick, and then rapped Ron hard against the head, muttering a spell.

"That worked. My hand's not stuck to the bed, but it's still stuck to Seamus. And how the _hell_ is he still asleep?" He poked Seamus in the head with his free hand.

"Shove over," Aaron said. "I'll use a waking charm on him." Ron scrambled out of the way and Aaron incanted another charm, causing Seamus to sit up abruptly, taking Ron with him. Both Seamus and Ron were now tangled up on the bed, Ron blushing furiously, and Seamus looking curiously at Ron. Seamus' grin widened.

"Awwh, Ronnie-kins, I never knew you liked me like that!" Seamus cooed, laughing as he was joined in with Harry and Aaron. "Having a go before breakfast. Kinky." Seamus snickered, and Ron's blush ventured to his ears. Seamus froze when he noticed Aaron standing there looking rather passive. "Ehh, ohh, uhh…" Seamus stuttered, this time blushing.

"I'm here because your friend here got his hands on (pardon the pun) a strange sticking charmed item which required a member of the opposing house to remove. But this sticking charm is rather bothersome, so you'll have to visit the hospital wing so Pomfrey can use a heavy duty unsticking charm. Or just saw Ron's hand off from you, and then repair the damage. I'm assuming either will work." Seamus simply started. "So, I being a teacher will have to order you to the hospital wing. I'll accompany you there halfway. Have fun!" Aaron looked as though he was having far too much fun. Which, in fact, he was. This was all quite enjoyable for the Asian professor, as he found this all rather amusing. Of course, it certainly helped that he had a fairly decent sense of humor, if not a little strange at time. "I'll leave you to get dressed. I'll be expecting you in the common rooms in ten minutes."

With that, Aaron exited the room.

Seamus and Ron fumbled around, barely managing to get dressed, and then, after ten minutes, they burst into the common room, earning an annoyed look from Hermione, and a rather curious one from Ginny.

"Marshmallow?" Ginny inquired. She received a solemn nod from Ron. Aaron stood up, leaving the chair he'd been sitting on, waving to Ginny. They had apparently been talking for a bit.

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Ron and Seamus obviously hadn't been expecting to see another patient in the hospital wing at this hour, and certainly not one of their professors. But sure enough, there was (Professor) Pyrennth, sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary looking quite sullen. He appeared to be arguing with Pomfrey, who was arguing right back. As Ron and Seamus entered the infirmary, Pyrennth swept out, pulling his shirt back on after being treated for his wound.

Pomfrey bustled over towards Seamus, inquiring as to what was wrong, and how it all happened. Ron had finished relating the story, this time with a bit more detail then Harry had provided for Hermione, but nothing that mentioned Seamus' words to Ron. Pomfrey had walked away, glancing around in an odd manner, as if trying to find where the supplies were, perhaps having forgotten, when they were interrupted by Pyrennth. He had torn of his shirt (though not _literally_ mind you), and was now holding it to his stomach. The pale blue shirt was now stained a red colour, and the professor had a rather angry look on his face.

"You're a crappy healer – that charm didn't work."

"Well, it wouldn't! You're supposed to _rest_ so it can properly take effect!" Pomfrey looked rather annoyed now too.

"I have a class to teach in a few hours! How can I rest?" Pyrennth glared at her, earning an exasperated sigh. "Stitch me up," he said finally.

"What?" Pomfrey looked rather shocked and… happy at Pyrennth's words.

"With a needle and thread, the muggle way. Or charm a needle to stitch it, I don't care."

"Fine," Pomfrey managed, before walking away to get the supplies needed.

As if now noticing Seamus and Ron were there, Pyrennth looked up, slightly surprised. "Hi there," he said, waving his hand in front of them. They were staring, and they certainly had a good reason to. Two scars cut across Pyrennth' chest, jagged and ripped. One started at his left shoulder, making its way towards his right hip. The other started halfway up his chest, perpendicular to the other scar. But not only that did they notice, but the strange tattoos: teal and orange flames decorating his right fore arm, what appeared to be a dead tree located on his left shoulder, it's leaves fading to a healthy green, with roots that twined around his left upper arm, slowly turning into snakes. And the most eye catching of all was a rather large tattoo on his back: seven words in what appeared to be Latin, intertwined with vines, thorns, and fire. Below it was a tribal design, only half of which could be seen.

And not to mention Pyrennth sported a grand total of twelve piercings. Perhaps everything combined caused the boys to let their jaws hang. Two in his right eyebrow, four in his right ear, and six in his left.

"Hi. Ronald Weasley," Ron said, snapping out of his daze first.

"Seamus Finnegan," Seamus stated dumbly.

"Oh, so you're the one who got stuck, eh?" Pyrennth snickered, earning a disapproving glare from Pomfrey. In her hands the medi-witch held what appeared to be bright green thread, and a small needle. Pyrennth raised a pierced eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

"Magically enhanced, of course," Pomfrey said rather pompously. She produced a bottle of… well, something as well as a cloth. She snatched the shirt from Pyrennth, revealing the gash that had been delivered by Aaron earlier. She began dabbing what must have been some sort of numbing solution, or perhaps disinfectant (or something, Ron reasoned) onto the professor's skin. She threaded the needle, and bent down, slowly stitching the wound closed. It took her a few minutes, but eventually she'd managed to get the wide gash finished. "While you are here, are there any other injuries you might be sustaining?" She asked in an imperious manner.

"Uh, no, thanks," Pyrennth replied with a small, forced smile.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, that will _not_ do," Pomfrey stated with a shake of her head. She jabbed her wand at Pyrennth's left shoulder, causing him to flinch. "You felt that?" Pyrnenth nodded. "What happened to this shoulder?"

"I was, eh, shot there."

"Shot," Pomfrey repeated, giving Pyrennth a look.

"By a muggle gun? With a bullet?" He provided, looking hassled now.

"Did you not seek medical treatment?" Pomfrey continued.

"No," Pyrennth replied bluntly.

"Well?"

"The guy who shot me felt guilty, so he removed the bullet with a knife and a pair of tweezers, and stitched me up." He flinched once more, when Pomfrey cast an x-ray charm on his shoulder.

"A part of your bone has shattered, and tiny piece is still in there. It healed, but poorly. I'll need to remove it if you want proper control of your arm." She paused, not bothering to look to Pyrennth for consent before casting another charm. "When did this happen?"

"About… hmm, a few months back, I'd say."

Pomfrey shook her head. "Foolish," she said. "I'm going to use an extracting charm. This may hurt a bit." She whispered the incantation, and a sick, squelching sound could be heard. Pyrennth gritted his teeth.

"Come back to me tomorrow, and we'll fix this up. Until then, try not to do anything strenuous with that arm." She gave him a pointed look, then began to examine Seamus and Ron.

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Whoot! Finished this chapter! Next one should be up shortly, seeing as I have a few plot bunnies bouncing around in my head :3 Err, hopping. You know what I mean.

And be sure to review! For every review… ehh, well, it just makes for a happy authoress nn


	5. Making for interesting Conversation

**Summary: **Harry never expected something so strange to happen, especially one clad in odd clothes with few too many piercings. Or maybe it's just him. Of course, finding a rather strange stranger eating a sandwich in your house isn't something that happens too often, even for the amazing Harry Potter.

**Rating:** Rated M, because I don't think I could ever make this have a lower rating xD Mind you, this is for upcoming. So, nothing like that or that quite yet.

**Disclaimer: **Characters are not mine, well, except for Aaron Grimmel and Gabriel Pyrennth. Those two hotties are mine, and so is the plot. And Abby (Absentis Memoria). She's my character too, and anything made up xD HP characters belong to JK Rowling, and her publishers, or something like that.

**Pairings:**Harry Potter/ Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasly, Gabriel Pyrennth/Aaron Grimmel, and a surprise pairing that will make you go WTF. :3

**In case you're wondering:** It is currently Tuesday in the story.

**So far in the story (SPOILERS in case you're lost (highlight)):** Harry finds a strange, white haired man sitting in his kitchen eating a sandwich. The following day, the Dursley's are berating him, missing five hundred pounds (Roughly one thousand dollars Canadian), and blaming the loss on Harry. Harry gets kicked out of the house for a day, and finds none other but the white haired stranger (Gabriel Pyrennth) lurking about on a park bench. Sleeping. A friend of Pyrennth's appears, and Harry meets him (Aaron Grimmel). Pyrennth decides he's hungry, and the three go eat some noodles:3 Finally, it's time for Harry to go back to the Dursley's, but not without Aaron and Gabriel 'checking' up on him. Before he knows it, it's time for school, and we continue with Harry… at school! After supper/dinner/dindin (XD), Harry heads back to the common rooms, and meats a few of the first years.

Next morning! Ron has a 'brilliant' idea to make Seamus stick to his mattress with a newly invented charmed marshmallow. The plan backfires, and Ron gets his hand stuck to Seamus and the mattress. The spell to reverse it requires a Slytherin to perform, so Harry goes off in search of Aaron, who (as well as Gabriel) is a new teacher at the school for 'fitness and physical defense.' He finds them, and the two are hacking at each other with swords, yay! Gabriel heads off to the infirmary (having contracted a nasty wound), and Aaron accompanies Harry to Gryffindor to remove the charm.

**Incendio – Chapter 5**

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It could not be said that Ronald Weasley was a happy camper. The muggle phrase was an appropriate synonym for the situation, seeing as Ron felt like some sort of muggle who'd pitched a tent in the woods, only to find a hornets nest above their head, rocks beneath the tent, and missing some very valuable items (food, namely.) It could also be said that Ron was quite peeved.

He'd had a wonderful idea – rather wicked (Slytherin, if you will) of him to get Seamus and the said boy's rump to quite literally 'stick' to his bed. And, of course, he had known this sticking charm on this marshmallow (which, if eaten would not cause your stomach to stick together, but would rather be digested by the juices in one's stomach) would not only stick Seamus to the sheet, but the mattress below as well.

And of course, this product just _had_ to work perfectly, which was a paradox in itself, seeing as few of his brother's products worked on their first test run.

And now, he was stuck with his hand securely stuck to a certain boy's behind. And three guesses to who was cracking up laughing, and being firmly scolded for it by Pomfrey.

Professor Pyrennth, of course. He was holding his stomach, most likely in pain (_I wish I could put him in a fair bit more pain,_ Ron thought to himself) seeing as his stomach had a large gash across it. By now, Seamus' face's colour had developed a rather interesting shade of red, discarding the pale, pasty colour Seamus' skin usually was. How Ginny could see anything in this boy was beyond Ron.

"Hey Ron, would you mind _not_ squeezing my ass while your hand's down there?" Seamus asked. Ron gaped, and Pyrennth laughed. "I mean, I know I'm irresistible to you," Seamus continued earning an annoyed glare from Ron (eye rolling included free of charge!) "But really, if you wanted me _that _bad, all you had to do was ask. Not that I don't mind all of this," he finished, wiggling a bit, and causing Ron to redden. Pomfrey clucked, shaking her head.

"I'll have none of this nonsense, not in this ward," Pomfrey said, giving all three of the patients a glare. Pyrennth opened his mouth to protest, but remembered his remark about her 'crappy charm.' It was probably safer to not say anything, anyways. Pomfrey bent down to examine the place where the two boys were 'stuck,' then straightened quickly. "When does this charm wear out?" She asked finally, earning an odd look from Seamus.

"In about five hours," Ron said honestly. He didn't include that it left a nasty residue, but that could be easily charmed away with a scourgify. 

"Well, you'll be waiting it out here," Pomfrey said. "I can't reverse a spell like that. It has nothing to do with what is taught to a highly qualified medi-witch, such as I," she nodded, and then pointed to a bed in the far corner. "You may wait there."

"Aww, but then they'll miss my class!" Pyrennth said disdainfully.

"They'll be at your next one, Professor Pyrennth," Pomfrey replied, eyeing the Professor warily. "As you do seem to have classes with seventh years daily."

Pyrennth harrumphed, muttering something about it being the introduction class and whatnot. He turned to Ron and Seamus, putting on a frighteningly bright smile. "Well, I'll see tomorrow in my class then! And make sure to ask your friends about today's class." He nodded to Pomfrey, and configured a new shirt for himself, and made to exit the hospital wing.

"And Professor," Pomfrey called out. "Do come back tomorrow, so we can be sure you will recover." Pyrennth replied with his consent, and left.

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"I am Professor Pyrennth, and this is Professor Grimmel. I'm sure you'd heard that we're to be instructing you in fitness and physical defense." The professor's voice echoed loudly in the room made up of seventh year Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"First off," Grimmel began, a calculating gaze sweeping the classroom. "Seeing as this is a new course that has only recently been implemented, we will be thinking that everything is new. You know no one here, and because of this, you will start anew. Any sort of animosity between the two houses will not be tolerated. Yes, you will be expected to pair up with members of the opposite house. Contrary to what you may be thinking, this is not a strange sadistic torture device in which we Professors derive our entertainment from. In this class, you will be learning how to defend yourself without the use of a wand, and you will become fit. I will expect every student here to arrive tomorrow morning, one hour before breakfast starts for a run outside." He smiled, making Harry wonder if this run he spoke of was his form of torture – he actually believed the part about inter house partners. After all, it wasn't as though Professors had attended Hogwarts, or any other magical school, so they couldn't expect to know of the inbred hatred that existed between the Slytherins and Gryffindors.

"In this course, we will be examining different martial arts, some being Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Jiu Jutsu, Aikido, and Karate. There are a few others, but the names will most likely hold little meaning to you. I'll expect everyone in this class to be proficient with a sword, and a range of weapons. While we will not be issuing a special uniform as many martial art studios' do, we would prefer if you came dressed in some sort of comfortable clothing. A t-shirt and jogging pants would be preferable."

"Also," Professor Grimmel said, interrupting Pyrennth, with a pointed glare at Neville and Seamus, who were carrying on an excited conversation. "Talking will not be permitted when we are talking. If we were to be instructing you on a move in battōjutsu, it would be fairly fatal if you were talking, as you might mishear the instructions. Because battōjutsu focuses on cutting techniques, it would make sense that the class would be learning one, correct?" Professor Grimmel let his rhetorical question hang in the air for a moment before continuing. "So, if you were in fact talking, you might not hear us instruct you to cut and step in one direction, and you might end up cutting in the wrong direction. While you cut to the right, the person on your right would be following the rules, having _listened_, and would be moving towards you. This would mean the distance between the two of you would have been halved, and you would most likely end up injuring another student."

"Any sort of instruction issued is to be followed. If we ask you to repeat a move, you will. If we ask you to execute a move, but you have forgotten, ask us, and we will assist you." Pyrennth nodded to the other Professor, who stepped forward.

"Wands away, quills out. You'll be taking a note which may not make sense to you now, but will later." Professor Grimmel flicked his wand, and a rather long list appeared on the blackboard. "These are simple instructions on what you'll be learning first – Tae Kwon Do. Right now, you're reading the three things in Tae Kwon Do we'll be practicing: patterns, self defense, and three step sparring, in that order. The patterns do not start until yellow stripe belt, which is the second paragraph. Patterns are a sub sequential set of movements you will need to execute. This can range from blocks, punches, and kicks. Self defense will be simple things to execute. An example is the white belt self defense, in which someone uses a double shoulder grab against you, and you step back with one leg, using four moves to not only force your opponent to release their hold, but to go onto the offensive side as well. Last is three step sparring. This is usually a simple drill in which your opponent may throw a punch at you, and you'll block, then counterattack."

The two professors on the steps in the room, waiting for the class to finish. Of course, they would be waiting a while, since most of their class had begun conferencing with one another. Pyrennth grinned, muttering "sounds like we're popular," to Aaron before surveying the class, pleased that most of them were copying down what had been written, but still talking to their friends.

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"Bloody hell, this isn't what I thought the course would be like!" Harry turned to Hermione, earning a look of annoyance.

"What did you expect, Harry?" She asked, shaking her head feeling rather exasperated. The name had given it all away: physical fitness? Self defense? It sounded like they would be doing a lot of warm ups and then some sort of muggle fighting. She'd seen that movie on TV once, with a famous martial artist, and was rather excited to be learning something this different, if especially at a school that taught magic as a sole subject.

"Well, I dunno! Something like muggle gym or… something!" Harry took a turn looking rather exasperated. "Well, actually, I guess I sort of knew…" He trailed off, thinking back to the day when he'd seen Pyrennth and Grimmel fighting. He blinked abruptly, looking around. That hadn't been days ago: why, it was _today_! How time did fly.

"Harry?" Hermione gave Harry a gentle nudge on his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah?" Harry looked over to see his friend with a rather worried look on her face.

"You drifted away. Anyways, so you _did_ figure it out. How?"

Harry gave Hermione a look of mock disdain. "Are you saying you are the only one who can think? And come up with bloody brilliant plans?"

"Well, yes, actually, I was," Hermione replied looking smug. Harry frowned, pouting.

"Not fair," he said. "House-confused Ravenclaw you are."

"Perhaps, she said, looking over at the Slytherin table, then hurridly began working once more.

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"Martial Arts, hmm?" Draco finally said, eyeing the two professors. "Don't you do something like that, Blaise?"

"I play the violin, idiot, I don't do any of this!" The boy huffed, crossing his arms. "How is it even the same?"

"Draco's forgotten his thinking cap at home where the deer and the antelope play and humpty dumpty lost his glass slipper," Pansy cut in, with a giggle.

"Pansy, if you're going even mention muggle stories and use them in an analogy, at least pick one and get it right," Draco said with a smirk.

"You speak muggle?" Goyle asked, peering into the little circle of friends that was forming.

"Stupid, it's a dialect, not a language," Crabbe shouted.

"Do you know what a dialect is?" Millicent Bulstrode asked, joining the group.

"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't," Goyle said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Milicent said, looking at Crabbe.

"Muffins," Crabbe said, looking around.

"Muffins," Draco, Pansy, and Blaise said.

"Cupcakes?" Goyle questioned. Draco laughed. "What? They're yummy and taste good! And the icing is the best part! And muffins can only be buttered, but cupcakes, you can put little sprinkles on!"

"Stop talking Goyle," Blaise said with as straight a face as he could muster.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Hermione asked, looking at the group.

"Shut up, Granger. We're done, see?" He picked up his piece of parchment, waving it in front of her face. The head girl frowned, still working on writing everything down. Of course, Draco hadn't told her he had used a transferring charm to make everything written on the board appear on his paper. As if _he_ Draco Malfoy would copy it down like some magic less squib, or even a muggle! Such an idea was simply preposterous.

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The rest of the class passed fairly quickly, and was fairly enjoyable. The Professors had engaged the class in a discussion about a muggle topic that even the Slytherins had participated in. They'd said something like "being physically fit is nothing is your mind is not fit as well." Draco had poked at Crabbe and Goyle, saying that eliminated them. Harry agreed, overhearing the small conversation between the two.

Before the class left, however, Professor Pyrennth interrupted them, clearing his throat and giving his wand a small wave. "I thought I might clear _one_ thing up. While this is more of a class that does not involve the use of your wand, you will, however, be learning spells that might help you out, examples being five minutes energy boosts, and how to clean your _swords_ blade with a simple spell. That's all, uhh, dissmissed!"

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The rest of the day passed fairly quickly, and at dinner that day, McGonagall announced that a mock Quidditch game would be taking place in two days, the upcoming Thursday. "Since the Quidditch tryouts have yet to commence, I'm giving every house a quick try out session. The real try outs won't be for a few more days, and this event can be participated in by any student who knows how to use a broomstick. We'll have congregated teams of the different houses, which will be chosen at random. If you're interested, there are _spelled_ sign up sheets in your common rooms, so only sign _yourself_ up." She gave the student body a quick nod, and food appeared on the tables for every student to enjoy.

"So," Lavender Brown started, resting her chin on her hand, with her elbow on her knee. She peered at Ginny through half opened eyes, a strange look plastered upon her petite face.

"So," Ginny repeated with a small smirk. The two shared a knowing grin, simply looking at one another, and, well… grinning.

"'The hell?" Ron inquired tactfully.

"We were just discussing how, ah, fine those two new teachers are, weren't we?" Ginny winked at her friend, the two lapsing into knowing smiles once more.

"I didn't hear much talking," Ron grumbled. As an afterthought he added, "and eww!" He shuddered, pretending to ignore the impression Ginny was doing of a 'Ron' flapping his hand in mock disgust.

"What? You and Harry and half the boys here talk about what you think of certain girls to great detail, so why can't we do the same, but with the opposite gender in mind?" Lavender sighed, wondering what Parvati ever saw in Ron.

"But that's just weird!" Ron countered.

"And so is listening to you guys talking, especially the way you go at it!" Ginny crossed her arms in a huff, as if supporting her opinion with the single fluid motion.

"Well, you don't have to listen," Ron grumbled.

"And neither do you!" Parvati shot back with a smirk, and Ron turned away.

"So, that Pyrennth guy? Ooh, yum. And he only looks like he's about twenty, twenty-one," Ginny grinned, speaking loud enough so that Ron could hear.

"Ooh, and his white hair is so different. Tastefully different, like all those piercings, yum," Parvati replied, as if rivaling Ginny in volume.

"But the best part? Neither Pyrennth or Grim wear robes. They said something about not being able to move well enough. Sure, we all believe that." Parvati winked at Ginny, who returned the gesture.

"And did you see? Pyrennth has _tattoos_." Ginny continued, her smile becoming almost predatory now.

"Really? Naw, I'm not into guys with tattoos really. Wait, how…?"

"He was wearing a t shirt." Ginny wiggled her eyebrows as if implying there was something more going on. At this, Ron couldn't keep from butting into the conversation. He turned around, wearing a frown, as he considered the two girls.

"I saw him at the hospital wing. Don't ask why I was there, but he was too, and shite, he had a tattoo on his entire back. Isn't that gross?" He coughed, frowning more. "And these big ass scars on his chest, and more tattoos on his shoulder." He nodded, as if trying to convince the two girls that this was just something horrid. And grotesque. And _stop talking about him already!_

"Ooh," the two girls crooned together.

"What is it?" Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones looked over at Ginny, Ron, and Parvati, the two who had been on their way to visit Ginny, who they'd become somewhat close to over the summer.

"Ron saw Pyrennth minus a shirt," Ginny crooned, holding her face in her hands dramatically. Hannah and Susan both giggled, but being Hufflepuffs, neither said much more. However, they did blush before running off, most likely chatting to one another about this new found revelation.

"I'm jealous," Parvati sighed, throwing her hand back against her forehead, as if this were some wonderful thing which she'd missed out on (which, she _had_).

"Ugh, girls," Ron muttered before facing Harry and Ron.

"So, Ron," Hermione began.

"Are you already started on me about my NEWTs?" Ron asked. Hermione bit her lip, looking away.

"Don't bother Hermione dearest. They just don't understand." Abby appeared rather suddenly at Hermione's side.

"Ever so true, Abby darling," Hermione said. "Come, we shall go study," she said, with a pointed glare at Ron before flouncing away.

"That, we shall!" Abby almost made a grand exit, but she couldn't resist turning around and winking at Ron and Harry as the two left.

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Yay, you read it! Thanks very much, and remember, reviewing makes for a happy authoress, and a happy authoress means… more chapters! X3


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